May 13: 2024 Annual Membership Meeting

We’re thrilled to invite you to join us on Monday, May 13, 2024 at 12:00 PM Pacific on Zoom for our 2024 Annual Membership Meeting.

During the meeting, we’ll reflect on our accomplishments from the past year, take a close look at our new strategic plan, and discuss how we work together under the big tent of cider in the upcoming year to sustainably grow the cider industry. After the meeting, we’ll have an optional virtual cider hang for anybody wanting to network with your cider peers. Let’s lift a glass together to the great year ahead!

Please note that you must be an Active ACA Member to attend the meeting, but don’t worry if you’re not yet one, you can join or renew your membership by clicking here.

We’ll send you the Zoom link before the meeting on May 13, 2024, so be sure to keep an eye on your inbox. We look forward to seeing you all virtually and celebrating the cider industry.

March 28: Live Sensory Analysis Webinar with Meriwether Cider

You’re invited to a Live Sensory Analysis webinar on Thursday, March 28, from 4:00 to 6:00 PM Pacific Time! Join our Certified Pommelier panel as they guide you through an immersive sensory experience featuring cider from Meriwether Cider in Idaho.

During this live practice session, you’ll learn how to analyze and appreciate cider like a pro and prep for your Certified Pommelier exam. Not able to make it to the live event? No worries! The webinar will be recorded and available for you to purchase and practice at your convenience.

We recommend ordering Meriwether Cider well in advance so you have it available to practice with during the webinar. You can purchase your Meriwether Cider for the webinar here.

Cost is $30 for non-members and $20 for ACA members. Are you an ACA member? Contact Education Operations Manager Jennie Dorsey for your discount code.

Coffee Chat with 3 Tier Beverages

Are you curious about the latest trends in the cider industry? Join us for a members-only Coffee Chat webinar on January 9, 2024, at 10:00 AM Pacific Time, where Mary Mills and Julia Lechleiter from 3 Tier Beverages will share insights on 2023 chainr retail cider sales and consumer behavior.

The duo will provide a comprehensive analysis of the top 100 US cideries, off-premise growth, and regional insights based on data from NielsenIQ. With their expertise in the beverage industry, Mary and Julia will identify the drivers of growth and highlight emerging trends in the cider market at the chain retail level.

But the conversation doesn’t end there! Continue the discussion with 3 Tier Beverages at CiderCon® 2024 on Thursday, January 18 at 10:30 AM. This session will be co-led with our partners at CGA, a leader in on-premise data, and 3 Tier Beverages, a BevAl focused consultancy.

Don’t miss out on this exclusive opportunity to learn from industry experts and gain insights that can help your business thrive in the cider market. Register now for the Coffee Chat webinar and CiderCon® 2024 to stay ahead of the curve.

Additional Employee Retention Credit Eligibility & Other Tax Planning Opportunities – What Your Cidery and Accountant May Not Have Considered

Hey ACA members! Get your calculators ready and join us for an informative webinar on November 14 at 2:00 PM Pacific!

Many businesses took advantage of COVID-19 relief programs such as PPP and EIDL, but many more are still missing out on funds from the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) and have not filed for all quarters in which they are eligible (up to 7 quarters). Eligible employers who paid qualified wages can claim up to $26,000 per employee in refundable tax credits. Another missed opportunity occurs when companies do not effectively utilize tax planning strategies. These strategies include the work opportunity tax credit, research and development credit, planning for long-term sustainability, bonus depreciation, and business expenses. Join Strategic Tax Planning, a licensed CPA firm for a discussion on the common tax planning techniques that could increase your business’s after tax cash flow.

Tina Azarvand

Tina joined Strategic Tax Planning and is a Tax Manager with the firm. While working as a Tax Attorney, Tina became interested in the Employee Retention Credit through the ever-evolving legislation, where she decided to shift her focus to assisting small businesses with ERC while it is available. 

As a Tax Attorney, Tina focused on assisting individuals and businesses facing tax controversies with the IRS and local taxing authorities. In 2022, Tina was selected to the SuperLawyers: Rising Stars list and the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch list, both of which are distinctions given to less than 3% of the attorneys in each respective state. Tina was also selected as the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS) Young Volunteer of the Year for 2022.

Live Sensory Analysis Webinar with Alma Cider

Join our Certified Pommelier™ panel in a live practice sensory webinar on Wednesday, July 26, 2023 from 4:00-6:00 PM Pacific featuring cider from Alma Cider. This webinar will also be available to rewatch and practice as a prerecorded event. ACA Members can register for a discounted rate of $15. The discount code for members can be found here.

Cider must be purchased separately. Please be aware that it may take several days to receive your cider order, so we encourage you to purchase your ciders as soon as possible. Also, please verify that cider can be sent to your state before purchasing ciders. Ciders can be purchased from Press then Press.

Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email. This email is a placeholder for the event. The evening before the event you will receive an email with a Zoom link to the webinar. Please note this link will be sent to the registered email.

Webinar: How Cideries Like Santa Cruz Cider Are Preventing Catastrophic Climate Change

There are a significant number of reasons why cideries like Santa Cruz Cider are looking to become more sustainable. Agriculture health, ingredient accessibility, customer engagement, preserving the bottom line, and protecting the planet are all driving cideries to focus on sustainability.

Join Jenny Morgan from Tradewater and Nicole Todd of Santa Cruz Cider Co. on June 6 at 10:00 AM Pacific for a discussion of the ways that Santa Cruz Cider committed themselves to sustainable action and how they came to partner with Tradewater.

We will also dive deeper into the high-impact climate projects that Tradewater leads and how each cidery can do their part to prevent catastrophic climate change.

Interested in learning how you can take action on sustainability in your cidery? Download this PDF with suggestions from Tradewater.

Our Speakers

Jenny Morgan joined Tradewater in 2022 as the Market Development Manager. In her role, she partners with organizations to help achieve carbon neutrality through sustainability consultation, emissions reduction, and the purchase of carbon credits. She operates under the belief that our most challenging problems cannot be solved by government and nonprofits alone – it requires a collective effort. She is passionate in changing the way we view business and industry to be both profitable and purposeful. Prior to joining Tradewater, Jenny has worked within the technology and hospitality sectors, and comes with 15+ years of experience in Business Operations, Market Development, Events, and Community Engagement. Outside of work, Jenny enjoys spending time with her family and friends hiking, running, swimming, and planning themed celebrations.

Nicole’s love for cider started with a truck bed full of ‘found’ apples in a nearby orchard. Having a passion for fermenting anything she could get her hands on, she started Santa Cruz Cider Co. in 2013 with the help of her husband and her sister. They have built the company from the ground up on a shoestring budget with a hands on approach. Nicole lives on a historic apple orchard in Santa Cruz county with her husband and two dogs.

Webinar: The Story Within the Story of Cider

You’ve heard the headlines and the general trends for Cider. Join Brian “BK” Krueger and Dave Williams from Bump Williams Consulting on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 at 11:00 AM Pacific to dive in a little deeper and really take a look at the KPI’s that matter and how you can apply them to your own situation, presentations, insights, and decisions.

You can expect to hear more of the story on Cider Velocity, Runway for the Future, the Role of Flavor, Pack Size and Type, Innovation, Regional Power, and the Modern Bev Alc Consumer.

This webinar is for active ACA members only. Not a member? Join now!

Our Speakers

Brian “BK” Krueger graduated from the University of Texas, Austin in 1996 with a degree in Marketing – focusing on Strategic Marketing & Promotional Strategies. BK is a 24-year Industry Sales Leader with a distinguished and accomplished history of growth and development across multiple National and Regional Craft Breweries. Rising from New Belgium’s first “Texas Beer Ranger” in 1999, BK spent 17 years growing in parallel with New Belgium’s success and expansion and held the role of Assistant Director of Sales for 5+ Years. Leaving New Belgium in 2015, BK spent the next 4 years applying his knowledge, experience, and skill set to an extended selection of National and Regional Craft Breweries helping to evolve them into the modern and future world of Craft Beer. Joining Bump Williams Consulting in 2020, BK now applies his talents and expertise on Sales Systems and Structure, Portfolio Development, Distributor & Retailer Partnership, and Sales Strategy & Growth across the broad spectrum of Beverage Alcohol clients.

Dave Williams graduated from Penn State University in 2006 with a degree in Marketing. Dave began his career at Marketing Management Analytics (Ipsos MMA) as a Data Analyst, running sales regression models and market level analytics across various Retail and CPG clients. He left MMA and joined Nielsen in 2010, working up to the role of Client Manager. In this role, Dave led a team dedicated to Market Mix, Price/Promo and Consumer analysis for Procter & Gamble globally, spanning multiple categories and brands across their wide portfolio. In 2015, Dave left Nielsen to join Bump Williams Consulting where he currently runs high-end analytics across the Beverage Alcohol universe. His key focus areas include Consumer Behavior, Pricing, Promotion and Retail Landscape for BWC’s Supplier, Distributor and Retailer clients.

Live Sensory Webinar with Artifact Cider Project

Join our Certified Pommelier™ panel in a live practice sensory webinar on May 4 from 4:00-6:00 PM Pacific featuring cider from Artifact Cider Project. This webinar will also be available to rewatch and practice as a prerecorded event.

Cider must be purchased separately. Please be aware that it may take several days to receive your cider order, so we encourage you to purchase your ciders as soon as possible. Also, please verify that cider can be sent to your state before purchasing ciders. Order the Certified Pommelier Study Sample Pack from Artifact to participate along with the webinar here.

Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email. This email is a placeholder for the event. The evening before the event you will receive an email with a Zoom link to the webinar. Please note this link will be sent to the registered email.

Three Upcoming ACA Webinars

The American Cider Association is pleased to share that we have several upcoming webinars in the next month and we hope you’ll join us at one or all of them. Read on to learn more about these webinars and to find links to register!

March 22 – 11:00 AM Pacific: 3 Tier Beverages Dashboard Orientation for ACA Members

3 Tier Beverages, in partnership with NielsenIQ, is proud to be the official data supplier of the American Cider Association. Part of this partnership brings ACA members quarterly dashboards with key market data and insights to help you drive your business forward. This webinar will walk ACA members through these dashboards so you can make the most of this unique offering. This webinar is for active ACA members only. Join now or renew your membership by clicking here.


March 24 – 9:30 AM Pacific: Coffee Chat with Vinoshipper: 2022 Cider Trends for Online Sales

Vinoshipper Senior Analyst Taylor Harrison will lead us through a look back at their data from 2022 and also provide a quick snap shot of what they’re seeing at the beginning of 2023 with regards to sales, packaging, and demographics! Want to check out some of the data before Taylor’s presentation? You can download it here. This webinar is open to all.


April 18 – 11:00 AM Pacific: ACA Annual Membership Meeting

The American Cider Association is pleased to invite our members to join us for the Annual Membership Meeting. We will review last year’s accomplishments, examine our strategic plan, and share what’s in the works for the year ahead. We look forward seeing all of you virtually and hearing your ideas for how we can promote the US cider industry. You must be an Active ACA Member to participate in the Annual Membership Meeting. You can join or renew your membership here.


New Benefits and Webinar with 3 Tier Beverages

The American Cider Association is dedicated to providing our members with valuable data they need to pitch retailers, investors and distributors. We are thrilled to announce an expansion of our data benefits through our new partnership with 3 Tier Beverages. The new dashboards will give the user more control over how you view the Nielsen data, offer you options for more comparisons, and provide insights on more regional markets—we’re excited to share that the dashboards will now include data for 50 markets! We’re finalizing the customization of the dashboards with 3 Tier, but they will be available to all ACA members very soon. This is just one area we are expanding our data benefits, and we hope you join the webinar to learn more about the 3 Tier custom dashboards for ACA members. Learn more about the webinar below.

3 Tier Beverages, in partnership with NielsenIQ, is proud to be the official data supplier of the American Cider Association. Part of this partnership brings ACA members quarterly dashboards with key market data and insights to help you drive your business forward. This webinar will walk ACA members through these dashboards so you can make the most of this unique offering. This webinar is for active ACA members only.

About Our Speakers

Mary Mills joined 3 Tier Beverages in 2022 from NielsenIQ, where she spent 14 years across client management, business development, and innovation insights. She has experience working with various clients in the food, beverage, and consumer goods industries, with 9 years focused on alcohol specifically. She holds a Marketing degree from The Ohio State University and is an avid Buckeye fan. She resides in Columbus, Ohio with her husband Andy and two children, Luke (4 years old) and Ava (2 years old).

Joe Sepka began his career in the CPG industry a little over a decade ago with PepsiCo as a contract pricing analyst for raw ingredients. Over the next few years, he grew into a variety of data-intensive roles. In 2018 however Joe was ready for a change and made the decision to leave PepsiCo for a new role at Revolution Brewing managing the data department. This was where he discovered he had a particular passion and love for the Bev-Alc side of the CPG industry. In 2020, Joe made the decision to leave Revolution to help launch 3 Tier Beverages. Each day he leverages my passion for data to assist their clients to find new opportunities in their respective Bev-Alc spaces, and help “level the playing field” when competing for space against the big guys.

In addition to being data-obsessed, Joe enjoys hikes, playing chess, recording music, and above all spending time with his wife Rosy, son Arthur, and (sometimes) grumpy but loveable dog Albus.